John McCain is clearly not pleased that the Military study of DADT will not confirm his presumptions. So he’s calling for a new study, one that would delay repeal and ask the questions he thinks would support his recalcitrance on the issue. (meet the press)

MR. GREGORY: Let me, let me talk to you about another military matter back home and a priority for this administration ; that’s whether the ban on gays and lesbians in the military is going to be rescinded.

SEN. McCAIN: Mm-hmm.

MR. GREGORY: Are you going to stand in the way, you personally, in the way of this ban being lifted?

SEN. McCAIN: I will stand that I want a thorough and complete study of the effect on morale and battle effectiveness of the United States military . I will listen, as I’ve said for years, to our military leaders and not a, not a study that is leaked — as we know this town’s pretty good at that.

MR. GREGORY: That said, seven in 10 members of the military think it would be just fine to have it lifted.

SEN. McCAIN: Yeah. You and I have not seen that study . And this study was directed at how to implement the repeal , not whether the repeal should take place or not. But, very importantly, we have people like the commandant of the Marine Corps , the three other — all four service chiefs are saying we need a thorough and complete study of the effects — not how to implement a repeal , but the effects on morale and battle effectiveness. That’s what I want. And once we get this study , we need to have hearings, and we need to examine it, and we need to look at whether it’s the kind of study that we wanted. It isn’t, in my view, because I wanted a study to determine the effects of the repeal on battle effectiveness and morale. What this study is, is designed to do is, is to find out how the repeal could be implemented. Those are two very different aspects of this issue.

MR. GREGORY: In a lot of households, this is a subject of debate, including your own, apparently.

SEN. McCAIN: That’s right .

MR. GREGORY: Your wife, Cindy McCain , has, has cut an ad, a public service announcement with NOH8 , a group that promotes gay, lesbian, transgender rights . And this is a portion of it. Let me, let me play it.

MS. CINDY McCAIN: Our political and religious leaders tell LGBT youth that they have no future.

MR. DAVE NAVARRO: They can’t get married.

MR. STEPH JONES: They can’t donate blood.

MS. McCAIN: They can’t serve our country openly.

MR. GREGORY: Referring to “don’t ask, don’t tell.” She did clarify this on her Twitter page. I- -you’re both so active on Twitter . She said this. She said, “I fully support the NOH8 campaign and all it stands for and am proud to be part of it. But I stand by my husband’s stance on ‘don’t ask, don’t’ tell.'”

SEN. McCAIN: Which is a complete and thorough study and review of the effect on battle readiness and…

MR. GREGORY: OK.

SEN. McCAIN: …and morale. And by the way, I respect the First Amendment rights of every member of my family.

MR. GREGORY: …there is kind of — you, you talk about waiting for the — there is an appeal to honor, I mean to your honor. You had the chairman of the Joint Chiefs saying, “Look, it’s just not right to have, to have people lying about who they are just to be able to protect fellow citizens.” It has been an appeal…

SEN. McCAIN: Yeah. And you have the, you have the commandant of the Marine Corps who says…

MR. GREGORY: Right.

SEN. McCAIN: …whose, whose people he’s directly responsible for, is saying this could hurt our ability to win. This, this is about…

MR. GREGORY: Do you believe that?

SEN. McCAIN: This is about…

MR. GREGORY: I mean, you say you wait for the study . What do you believe?

SEN. McCAIN: I’m paying attention to the commandant of the Marine Corps .

MR. GREGORY: Right.

SEN. McCAIN: I’m paying attention to the chief of staff of the Air Force , the Army and…

MR. GREGORY: But you’re so close to the military , Senator . You know these people. You know the issue. I mean, do you have a sense of it in your gut about what should happen?

SEN. McCAIN: I, I have a sense that I respect and admire these four service chiefs who have expressed either outright opposition or deep reservation about the repeal . They’re the ones who are in charge. Now, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , I agree , the president and the secretary of Defense have all come out for repeal . But I really would — I was in, I was in an outpost near Kandahar . Army master sergeant, 19 years in, fifth deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan , says to me, ” Senator McCain , we live, eat, sleep, and fight together in close proximity. I’m concerned about the repeal . I’d like to know more about it.” That’s, that’s the view that I got from chief petty officers and sergeants all over Afghanistan .

MR. GREGORY: The ban’s not going to be lifted in the lame duck session , is that fair to say?

SEN. McCAIN: I think that we should at least — I, I don’t think it should be, because I think once this study comes out in the beginning of December, we should at least have a chance to review it and maybe have hearings on it.

McCain is sounding less credible with each passing day. “I don’t care ’bout no reports. I was talking to some guy in Kandahar…”

He hears what he wants to hear and believes what he wants to believe and no studies, facts, logic or principles are going to change him.

What angers me the most is still he still persists in pretending that he ever has any intention of ever voting for repeal. The idea that a Republican would be swayed by a “study” is laughably absurd. They hate facts and logic and science more than they hate gays. The talking point, and the justification for all 42 senators (including Kirk) to continue to filibuster repeal will be exactly as McCain said. “the study is bad”. Obama has no excuse for continuing to fight repeal in the courts; as weirdly idealistic as he is, even he must see now that no Republican would ever vote pro-gay and risk being ostracized by the party. Even Cindy clearly was forced to change her position.

Once again, we have a reporter who won’t ask the simplest question of the good Senator – if gay people are so bad for morale, how has his office functioned for years with an openly gay Chief of Staff, who also acts as McCain’s campaign manager during his runs for re-election? I mean, if McCain can rely on this man for his most important staff jobs, ones that bring him into intimate contact with every facet of McCain’s life, why couldn’t the military?

This idiot is my US Senator and boasts about not bringing a penny of money to Arizona. And now he wants to waste more money on a pointless survey. John McCain is only interested in appearing on Sunday talk shows.

@CPT_Doom McCain would answer saying that his office is not run like the military. After the day is complete, employees can go home and don’t have to live together, shower together, etc. The military is entirely different.

Since sometime in 2008, he has given me the impression of a man 30 years older than he had been just two short years before. Something has changed – whether it is dementia, or medications, or serious underlying physical problems, he just is not running on all cylinders.

To imagine he might have been president with Barracuda Barbie one heart-beat away…she’d have had him declared non compos mentis long ago.

“SEN. McCAIN: I, I have a sense that I respect and admire these four service chiefs who have expressed either outright opposition or deep reservation about the repeal . Theyâ€™re the ones who are in charge.”

No. Actually not. In this country the military serves at the pleasure of the people, under the control of the people’s representatives. Like John McCain.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) has said she will vote for repeal if Reid can ensure a fair debate and will allow Republicans to introduce amendments.

The Center for American Progress said last week that at least 10 senators of both parties are waiting to read the Pentagon report before making their decision.

It’s easy to put people in a box and label it “they” and assign it attributes, and throwing hate at the box is a lot of fun, but that process doesn’t make for very accurate political assessment.

Here at BTB, you’ll get much more respect by thoughtful analysis. Yes, I know that “all Republicans (or whoever is the target that day) are…” is a common tactic at most sites that cover what we discuss here, but we’re a bit different. Less ranting, more thinking.

Also, Collins is the only Republican who has said she would even consider voting for repeal, and a “fair debate”, whatever that means, would clearly carry us into the new year. I don’t think it’s at all over-the-top to say repeal would be impossible with a Republican-controlled House.

“Thatâ€™s what I want. And once we get this study , we need to have hearings, and we need to examine it, and we need to look at whether itâ€™s the kind of study that we wanted. It isnâ€™t, in my view, because I wanted a study to determine the effects of the repeal on battle effectiveness and morale. What this study is, is designed to do is, is to find out how the repeal could be implemented. Those are two very different aspects of this issue.”

So until I get a report that goes in my way of thinking, HELL NO! And I will only listen to those who share my opinion. Never mind the 21 year old in the 29th marine division who told me that he doesn’t care about working along side a gay person, I only speak with other fellow homophobes. And we will keep having reports and hearings until they all agree with me.

In this original BTB Investigation, we unveil the tragic story of Kirk Murphy, a four-year-old boy who was treated for “cross-gender disturbance” in 1970 by a young grad student by the name of George Rekers. This story is a stark reminder that there are severe and damaging consequences when therapists try to ensure that boys will be boys.

When we first reported on three American anti-gay activists traveling to Kampala for a three-day conference, we had no idea that it would be the first report of a long string of events leading to a proposal to institute the death penalty for LGBT people. But that is exactly what happened. In this report, we review our collection of more than 500 posts to tell the story of one nation’s embrace of hatred toward gay people. This report will be updated continuously as events continue to unfold. Check here for the latest updates.

In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote that “[Paul] Cameron’s ‘science’ echoes Nazi Germany.” What the SPLC didn”t know was Cameron doesn’t just “echo” Nazi Germany. He quoted extensively from one of the Final Solution’s architects. This puts his fascination with quarantines, mandatory tattoos, and extermination being a “plausible idea” in a whole new and deeply disturbing light.

From the Inside: Focus on the Family’s “Love Won Out”

On February 10, I attended an all-day “Love Won Out” ex-gay conference in Phoenix, put on by Focus on the Family and Exodus International. In this series of reports, I talk about what I learned there: the people who go to these conferences, the things that they hear, and what this all means for them, their families and for the rest of us.

Using the same research methods employed by most anti-gay political pressure groups, we examine the statistics and the case studies that dispel many of the myths about heterosexuality. Download your copy today!

Anti-gay activists often charge that gay men and women pose a threat to children. In this report, we explore the supposed connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse, the conclusions reached by the most knowledgeable professionals in the field, and how anti-gay activists continue to ignore their findings. This has tremendous consequences, not just for gay men and women, but more importantly for the safety of all our children.

Anti-gay activists often cite the “Dutch Study” to claim that gay unions last only about 1½ years and that the these men have an average of eight additional partners per year outside of their steady relationship. In this report, we will take you step by step into the study to see whether the claims are true.

Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council submitted an Amicus Brief to the Maryland Court of Appeals as that court prepared to consider the issue of gay marriage. We examine just one small section of that brief to reveal the junk science and fraudulent claims of the Family “Research” Council.

The FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics aren’t as complete as they ought to be, and their report for 2004 was no exception. In fact, their most recent report has quite a few glaring holes. Holes big enough for Daniel Fetty to fall through.